Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Sharoiko / Photo from UNIAN

The chief of Belarus's secret police, the KGB, says Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Sharoiko, who was sentenced to eight years in prison on espionage charges in May, could soon be pardoned.

Valery Vakulchyk told reporters in Minsk on October 5 that the possibility of pardoning Sharoiko's is currently under discussion, RFE/RL's Belarus Service said.

Sharoiko was detained in October 2017 by the KGB under the accusation of being part of a spy ring working for Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

Видео дня

Read alsoUkrainian journalist Sharoiko sentenced to eight years in prison in Belarus for "espionage"

Kyiv denied the Belarusian accusations.

Ukraine and Belarus expelled each other's diplomats after Sharoiko's arrest.

Vakulchyk also said that Belarus expelled two foreigners for "spying activities earlier this week."

He did not specify the expelled individuals' nationalities.